The Land Before Time XX

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

This is my sequel to XIX: The Time of Choosing.  Even though Nick22 is not keen on me using numerals, I really need to kinda as Nahla has one with the same name and I'm loathe to change the name and don't want to have people get the two confused.  

THE LAND BEFORE TIME XX: THE HEART WHISPERS  

PROLOGUE

CHARACTERS

Littlefoot - Apatosaurus (Longneck/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Cera - Triceratops (Threehorn/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Ducky - Saurolophus (Swimmer/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Petrie - Pteranodon (Flyer/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Spike - Stegosaurus (Spiketail/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Ali - Apatosaurus (Longneck/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Atto - Saurolophus  (Swimmer/Flattooth)  Alignment:  Good but kinda annoying

Nigel - Quetzalcoatlus (Large Flyer/Flattooth)  Alignment:  Good but kinda annoying

Perrin (OC) - Pteranodon (Flyer/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Alfred (OC) - Triceratops (Threehorn/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Loofah - Loofah's Species (Yellow Belly/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Rooter - Anklyosaurus   (Club Tail /Flattooth)  Alignment:  Good

Thunderfoot(OC) - Apatosaurus (Longneck/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Arianna II (OC) - Apatosaurus (Longneck/Flattooth) Alignment: Good

Tyrone (OC) - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Sharptooth) Alignment: Good

Mo Mo's Species (Water creature) Alignment: Good

Pterano - Pteranodon (Flyer/Flattooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Good

Guido - Microraptor (Glider/Sharptoothish) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Good

Chomper - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Sharptooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Ruby - Oviraptor (Fast Runner/Bothtooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Andromeda / Mrs. Chomper (OC) - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Sharptooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Strut - Struthiomimus (Egg Stealer) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Dil - Deinosuchus (Belly Dragger/Sharptooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Ichy - Ichthyornis (Sharp Beak/Sharptooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Thud - Utahraptor (Fast Biter/Sharptooth) Alignment: Undecided and leaning Bad

Screech - Utahraptor (Fast Biter/Sharptooth) Alignment: Bad

Rinkus - Rhamphorhynchus (Flyer/Flattooth) Alignment: Bad

Odul (OC) - Gallimimus (Bothtooth) Alignment: Bad

Ela (OC) - Gallimimus (Bothtooth) Alignment: Bad

Finley (OC) - Gallimimus (Bothtooth) Alignment: Bad

Liz (OC) - Gallimimus (Bothtooth) Alignment: Bad


Domehead Leader (OC) - Pachycephalosaurus (Domehead/Bothtooth/Fanged Flattooth) Alignment: Bad

Domeheads (OCs) - Pachycephalosaurus and Stegoceras (Domehead/Bothtooth/Fanged Flatooth) Alignment: Bad

Fast Biter Leader - Velociraptor (Fast Biter/Sharptooth) Alignment: Bad

Red Claw - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Sharptooth) Alignment: Evil

Ozzy - Struthiomimums (Egg Stealer) Alignment: Evil

Sierra - Cearadactylus (Flyer/Flattooth) Alignment: Evil

Gallim /The Terror of the Mysterious Beyond - Gallimimus (Bothtooth/Fanged Flattooth) Alignment: Pure Evil

COUPLES

Littlefoot X Ali

Cera X Alfred

Ducky X James

Petrie X Perrin

Spike X Lisa

Chomper X Andromeda (husband and wife)

Ruby X Ralph

Grandpa Longneck X Grandpa Longneck (husband and wife)

Odul X Ela (husband and wife)

Finley X Liz (husband and wife)

Pterano X Pterano's mate (husband and wife)

Guido X Guido's Girlfriend

Places

The Great Valley

The Valley of Sharpteeth

The Land of Mists

The Mysterious Beyond

The Great Divide

Berry Valley

Hunter Valley

Big Water

Ruby's Family's home

The Mountains that Burn

EVENTS

The Occupation of the Great Valley

Ambush at the Great Divide

Birth of the Combined Pack (Land of Mists)  

Ambush in the Land of Mists

The Incident in the Valley of Sharpteeth

The Fight in Sharptooth Cave

The Great Valley War

Showdown at the Mountains that Burn

Alignment level explanation:  

Good  (Means they are good and have no risk of going bad)

Good by Kinda Annoying - Think Dana, Dinah, and Ducky's aunt (in LBT XV).    

Undecided Leaning Good (Means they are good, but it is possible they could just walk away and forget about the Great Valley and helping out)

Undecided Leaning Bad:  Means that said character has the potential to go bad due to situations around them or else is bad but is having second thoughts and may not stay loyal to the forces of evil.  

Bad: Means they are villains who have no desire to be good.  

Evil - Means that they are particularly bad villains who are psychopathic and dangerous.  

Pure Evil - reserved for the main antagonist  and is self explanatory.  

Chomper had seemingly at last gone the way of his kind, despite his many attempts to fight it off. The matriarch of Ali's herd was dead and the Great Valley was in mourning. The last hope for a herd had been banished for life from the Great Valley for his role in the Sharptooth's escape.

Petrie had long viewed his Uncle Pterano as a second father. However, Pterano had at last told his nephew what he had been keeping from him for nearly 20 cold times. He had been responsible for Papa Flyer's death due to his ego to lead a herd. Petrie, already devastated from Chomper's attack on the Old One, was grief-stricken. Pterano had tried to comfort him, but his nephew, who long held his uncle in such high esteem, had vowed never to talk to him again and vowed that he would always hate him.

Pterano had promised to his brother-in-law to be like a father to Petrie. However, his nephew wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Devastated, Pterano had left the Great Valley. Petrie angrily had said that it was a good riddance.

The Valley of Sharpteeth had been taken over by Red Claw and Chomper and his lover Andromeda forced to flee for their lives. The Valley of Sharpteeth had been stirred up by Red Claw to begin again an attempt to make the Longnecks of the Great Valley pay dearly for taking their homeland over 100 cold times earlier. War seemed on the horizon. And the worst part is that the Leaf Eaters didn't know it was coming.

A cruel and cunning dictator had taken over the Great Valley and nobody was any the wiser there as to what he was or what he had done. The Terror of the Mysterious Beyond, having begun his reign of terror during that fateful day during the Leaf Famine, now had the crown jewel of the dinosaur world, the Great Valley, under his thumb. Now, all he had to do was make sure that they became divided and would fall under his power forever. Then, the world at last would be his and he could have the Bothteeth rule the world!

However, only three stood in his way. Chomper, the Sharptooth, who, he hoped, would succumb to the nature of all Sharpteeth ever before him, and so never be able to help the Leaf Eaters, and his girlfriend Andromeda, whom Chomper had attacked the Old One to save, and, of course, the one the Fanged Flattooth wanted gone the most: Littlefoot, the most tolerant Longneck in the world and the greatest threat to his plan to keep the kinds divided. However, if he got the two Valleys completely under his thumb, not even these three could stop him. And, conveniently, for him, the three seemed to be natural enemies and were, in fact, likely to meet up only in mortal combat.

Littlefoot, now worried that he was facing an enemy more dangerous than Sharptooth, except, this time, it was his great friend, headed toward the place he had once called home before coming to the Great Valley. It seemed the only place left to go now and, somehow, he thought that, in all the chaos that now was his life, he might finally get an answer here.

Ruby, meanwhile, has been allowed as part of the new leadership of the Fanged Flattooth, though she has no idea of what he truly is.  Will her ambition to feel important get her corrupted or will she stay true to the real her?  

Guido, having gotten his memory back at last, has gone out searching for answers as to who may have survived of his herd after Sharptooth and Red Claw had killed his family many years earlier.  There, he meets his childhood girlfriend.  

After Littlefoot's banishment, Ali was voted the new leader of the Gang.  Ali and the others agreed to go sneak out by trying to decode Littlefoot's riddle of the secret entrance to the Great Valley and go and find him.  Unknown to them, they are followed by Atto and Nigel, who want to go and find their new hero: Littlefoot.    

They trek across the Mysterious Beyond in a higher stakes mission than even their quest to find the Valley 20 cold times earlier.  This time, they fear the enemy stalking them might be someone more deadly than their original foe Sharptooth:  their own former best friend Chomper!!!!!

Things seemed dark indeed in the Land Before Time, with evil so close to triumph. While evil flourished, good looked the wrong way to find the guilty. However, friendship can be a tool that can break the patterns of everything, even nature itself. For the heart whispers and one might listen closely to learn the truth and spot the wayward friend and spot the real foe. For it takes all sorts to set things right and to defeat evil's might and if we hold on together, our dreams will never die.  

This is the final chapter in the story of the Land Before Time. Will Littlefoot's mother's death at last be avenged or will her son fail in his quest to change the world?

(PS, in this one, you actually do get to see something you've always wanted to see: Littlefoot vs. Chomper, it DOES happen!  What comes of it, well, you'll have to read the whole thing to find out.             )

And, of course, I had to try and outdo Star Wars so there will be some final battles in the Mountains that Burn with lava flowing lots of places and a Great Earthshake II going on.  

Also, as for this story, if you've come to hate the Fanged Flattooth as much as [Insert Evil Politician or Dictator Name Here], then you haven't seen ANYTHING yet.  He's setting his sights on dividing the Combined Herd and making segregation happen everywhere!  

It's gonna be "If We Hold On Together" (song in this one.    )  vs. "Divide!  Divide!  Divide!" (villain song in this one).  

Also, let's hope that ole Littlefoot hasn't been playing too much Russian Roulette by being nice to Chomper.    (Note: Yes, he goes into the Valley of Sharpteeth.  Will he come out?  Read to find out........)

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

CHAPTER ONE: THE GREAT DIVIDE

He was banished. He could never go back. He would never see his friends again. Ali would never fall in love with him now. He had wanted to be a leader. Well, now he knew what the consequences of a decision could bring. "I'm not ready." he said to himself.

He yearned to get back, yet, how could he? Unless….unless…..the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond! If he got this evil fiend captured or killed, they'd probably take him back as he'd save dozens of lives. Pterano had had his punishment reduced for saving Ducky. It could happen.

However, he thought about whom the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond might be and his heart fell. What if Gallim had been right, that Chomper had been posing as a nice Sharptooth only to harm the innocent? What if Chomper was a mass murderer? Yet, Chomper had been his friend for years. They had been through so much together. Could he finish him or would it be better, painful as it was, to stay out here forever so that he could remember Chomper in peace?

He thought of back where, until earlier, had been his home. He loved Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, and Ruby. He loved his grandparents and his father. He loved Shorty his foster brother. And, most especially, he loved Ali. He really loved her. He knew that she was The One. However, how could she choose him now? What life would that be, always living in the Mysterious Beyond as an outcast?

Also, the Old One was her great-great aunt. Ali had lost a family member and it was his fault. He, the biggest longneck fool in the world. He hadn't learned from his mother's death after all. Now someone else was dead. Perhaps Ali wouldn't want him anymore, after he had let Chomper get away and after his banishment. She might eventually even forget him. He began to cry.

He had hoped to make the world a better place. A place worth living in. He'd hoped to fix the wrongs of the world, particularly the separation of the kinds. All he'd done was leave it a mess. If he'd just have stayed asleep, his mother would still be alive. If he had never gone on that crazy attempt to get back an egg from the Egg Stealers, he would never have met Chomper and he'd be back home with his family and the Old One would still be alive.

He passed the Mountains the Burn. The place looked frightening in the middle of the night. The skeletons and tar and the lava. Also, there were the evil Domeheads there. They were dangerous and he recalled his unpleasant meetings with them. He stayed clear of that place for, even at his age, the place looked dark and forbidding. It was just as well, for the Domeheads were in league with Gallim and were on the lookout for Littlefoot, Chomper, and Andromeda.

He passed the rock that looked like a longneck. He recalled it was one of the places that his mother told him to go to on the way to the Great Valley. He yearned to be back in the Great Valley now, but he couldn't go back yet. Not while his banishment still held up. He really wished his mother were still alive. She'd know what to do.

His thoughts of her made him head, without really thinking of it, toward the Great Divide. He had been heading this way already, feeling that there was something here for him. It was kind of like when he had had the sleep stories that he should go somewhere and when he had found his father.

As he drew near where he'd last seen his mother, he found a familiar face. It was Rooter. Though older, he was still around. "Hello there. Glad to see you again." said Littlefoot. "When did I see you before kid?" he asked. "My name is Littlefoot. We last met about 20 cold times ago. 20, in fact, coming up soon. We last met after my mother was killed by Sharptooth." said Littlefoot.

"Ah, I recall you. How are you doing kid?" said Rooter. "Not so well. Another tragedy has happened. And like last time, it's my fault." said Littlefoot. "It wasn't your fault last time. I told you that. What happened this time?" Rooter asked. "I thought I could change someone. It was such a silly idea." said Littlefoot.

"Well, some people you can't change. You'll have to get used to that." said Rooter. "I'd hoped that if I got him when he was just a baby, I could change him so he wouldn't be a killer." said Littlefoot. "Who?" said Rooter. "Chomper. He's a Sharptooth. My friends and I got him by mistake when we went after eggnappers. I was the one who stayed and took care of him. We became pals for many cold times. However, on the night of the Fire Circle, it looks like he may have succumbed to his nature. He almost ate the Old One. He attacked her, which I'm sure he didn't mean, as he was just trying to protect Andromeda. However, I saw the look in his eyes. It was the same look Sharptooth had when looking at Mother. Also, he said that he had once tried to hunt us and that he'd eaten Leaf Eater meat before. Also, the Old One died from her wounds. I helped Chomper get away. I wasn't sure if he was bad or not. He was my friend. I got banished for what I did. Now I'll never see my friends again." said Littlefoot. "Well, nobody's perfect kid. We all make mistakes. " said Rooter. "And, I'll never get to see Ali now. I think she is my Soul Mate. I am the last hope for my herd. Grandpa and Grandma and Father are too old to have kids now. I'm banished out here. I've failed." said the longneck.

"If Ali loves you like you love her, she'll find a way to get to you, despite your banishment." said Rooter. "Why would she want to live out here her whole life? If there was a place she should live, it's the Great Valley. It is the best place one could live." said Littlefoot. "The best place to live is with those who love you." said Rooter.

Littlefoot began to sing: "Sometimes you think you know what's right

Then somebody comes along

and they show you what you thought was right

might be a little bit wrong

Things can look so different

from someone else's side

You're half as smart as you thought you were

and the world seems twice as wide

How do you know who to listen to?

how do you know what to think?

When you see it through someone else's eyes

things can change in a blink

Do you hold onto the rules you've learned?

or do you let them go?

When everything's a muddle

how do you know?"

"You only have to do your best.

You cannot control what happens with the rest.

Sometimes things don't go the way you want them to go.

If you follow your heart, then you will know." sang Rooter.

Meanwhile, in the Great Valley, though it was not so great anymore with Gallim in charge, Ali thought fondly of Littlefoot and the Old One. Her heart ached. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She was with Rhett, However, both of them knew where her heart lay.

"Rehtt, I just don't know. He can't come back. I admit, I have feelings for you. I just..." she said, and she broke out in tears. Rhett said nothing. He wanted Ali to be his Soul Mate, but, on the other hand, he wanted her to be happy as he did care for her. Wanting a banished Longneck seemed a hard life for her, but, Rhett knew, it was her life to live. "Ali, it's your life to live. I know who you're thinking about. If you go that route, you won't be able to come back here with your family." he said.

"Sometimes things go a way that you wish wasn't so.

You feel like you've been dealt a very hard blow.

The circumstances lead one way and your heart another and you're not sure where to go.

You wonder and wonder, how do you know." sang Ali.

Back at the Great Divide, Littlefoot finished singing with "My mother said she'd always be with me.

Even if her I couldn't see.

Ali and I seemed meant to be.

I wish I could see through this pain and woe.

I wish I could figure out how do I know."

"You follow your heart kid. That's all you can do." said Rooter. Littlefoot nodded. It had been what Arianna had told him after all.

"Nice talking to you again." said Littlefoot, turning to go. "Wait kid. One last thing you should know." said Rooter. "There was this guy looking for you right after you left the last time we met. He seemed odd. Why look for a kid who just lost his mother? Something didn't seem right. I told him to be on his way." said Rooter.

"What did he look like?" asked Littlefoot. "I recall that he was tall and that he looked up to no good. That's all I can recall." said Rooter. "Farewell." said Littlefoot.

Littlefoot left Rooter. He now had even more to think about. Why had someone asked to find him? Someone that he couldn't have known, for he had only known longnecks and the only other kind he had met at that point, other than Rooter himself, was Cera. Also, there was the evil laugh he had heard. Perhaps they were one and the same. There might have been someone after him. Someone seeking him harm!

But, then again, it couldn't have been a Sharptooth, as Rooter would have ran and the only Sharpteeth that Littlefoot knew could talk were…he paused. He didn't want to think of them. He once more hated Sharpteeth, even Chomper and Andromeda.

He approached the Great Divide. The place felt creepy, even in all the ensuing cold times. So many had died here. His mother was only one of them. The place felt haunted. He travelled along and finally, he came, well past nightfall, to the place where he had last seen her.

Much to his shock, there were no bones from her remains. There was, however, a ton of stones. Somebody had put her to rest. Perhaps other dinosaurs who may have lost family in the Great Earthshake and had decided to bury any dead they found.

He moved against the rocks where his mother lay, resting, unaware that her son was back. That he had failed her so miserably. That he would never be able to go back to the Great Valley, where she had told him many times how to get there.

"Mother, I really wish we could have traded places. It's me that should have been killed by Sharptooth, not you. All I've done is make the world worse. The world is better off without me." said Littlefoot. With that sad thought in his mind, he fell asleep.

"Littlefoot, you are the best." said Cera. "Hey guys!" said Littlefoot. "We love you. Yep, yep, yep we do." said Ducky. "Me glad you our friend." said Petrie. Spike nodded his approval. "Oh Littlefoot, you are so brave and loving! Stop beating yourself up." said Ali.

"Guys, I cannot see you. I've been kicked out. Chomper might be the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond. If I can stop the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond, then I could come back." said Littlefoot. "If Chomper is the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond, you will have to find out to know. And the only way to know and find out is to find out by going and finding him yourself to find out for sure." said Ruby.

"Guys, I've done nothing to help you. Your lives are better off without me." he said to them. Then, it happened. He heard the evil laugh again. A shadow like that a Sharptooth. The shadow hit his friends and they screamed and vanished. All around him, the shadow consumed his grandparents, his father, Ali's mother, Petrie's mother, Ducky's parents, Topps and Tria, and everyone. In its wake, it showed Sierra, Red Claw, and Ozzy in the Great Valley. "NO!' yelled Littlefoot. The three were laughing evilly. Also, he heard the evil laughing voice. It said "The longneck at last is dead! The Great Valley and the dinosaur world are mine!"

"No, stop it! Please stop it!" said Littlefoot. "You cannot stop it. You don't want to exist anymore" said a voice.

It was Arianna. "Mother?" said Littlefoot. "But, you…you're…" he said. "Littlefoot, you wish you had died." said his mother. "Yes, the world is better off without me. The world needs someone like you." said Littlefoot.

"Littlefoot, you have a purpose, even if you don't see it yet." said Arianna. "What happens to the Great Valley? Why are they all gone? Why are Red Claw, Sierra, and that Egg Stealer there?" said Littlefoot. "There is a plot against the Great Valley Littlefoot. A plot against the whole world." said Arianna. "What kind of plot?" said her son, concerned. "Who is plotting it?"

"The Terror of the Mysterious Beyond. His plans are nearly complete now. Even the Great Valley is falling into his grasp now." said Arianna. "NO!" said Littlefoot. "Yes, I'm afraid you don't have much time. Only 15 more risings and setting of the Bright Circle. At dawn on the 16th rising, if you have not confronted him, it will be too late." said Arianna. "That is my 25th Star Day. The day I come of age!" said Littlefoot. "Yes, it is dear." said his mother.

"But how will I find the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond?" asked Littlefoot. "He has long kept the shadow of the Sharptooth in him. It will not stay hidden from the world for long." said Arianna. "The shadow of the Sharptooth?" he asked. Did this refer to Chomper? Was he about to attack like never before? Was the Old One's death only the beginning in the Great Valley? Would his friends die next?

"Is it Chomper?" he asked. Arianna didn't reply. Finally, she said "You have done much to fight herd separation. Far more than anyone before you. I was afraid to speak out. I hoped you could do what I didn't." "You never supported it." said Littlefoot. "I never opposed it enough. Not like you. You have much to be proud of." said Arianna. "I don't feel like it at the moment." said Littlefoot. "Some things you see with your eyes. Others you hear with your heart. Listen to your heart. It whispers so listen closely. You need to leave this place. You are in danger." said Arianna.

Littlefoot woke up. It had seemed so real. Perhaps it was. He heard a low growl. "Sharptooth!" he said aloud, jumping up in fright. He turned to run. He saw them. The Fast Biters. And it wasn't just Fast Biters. Sharp Beaks were coming for him too. And a herd of Deinocheirus were coming at him. They were about Gallim's size.

He knew two things for sure: that they meant to kill him and that he didn't want to die after all. He turned and ran. "Run, run!" he heard his mother's voice call to him. He didn't need telling twice.

He neared the pit. He hopped along the edge, moving along rocks. The Fast Biters chased him. They were faster than him. He needed to do something.

WHACK! He swung his tail at some rocks, which went sailing and struck two Fast Biters, who fell off the edge to their deaths below. Littlefoot was shocked at this. He hadn't taken a life since they'd killed Sharptooth nearly 20 cold times ago. Yet now wasn't the time to think over killing. It was kill or be killed.  (A very bizarre thought did cross his mind though:  This is what it's like to be a Sharptooth!)  

"Back off!" he said. The Deinocheriuses laughed. "Silly fool! You're no match for the might of the Terror of the Mysterious Beyond!" said one of them. "You know who it is?!" said Littlefoot in shock. "Of course." said the Bothtooth. Littlefoot was afraid. Their claws were dangerous enough to kill him.

He found a way to move downward safely. He moved downward toward the Dark Underground. He kicked rocks behind him to delay the enemy. Another Fast Biter and a Bothtooth fell to their deaths. He eventually got to the bottom. It was rather dark down here. The light of the Night Circle didn't reach as well down here.

He could see many skeletons down here. The remains of those who had perished in the Great Earthshake. The enemy was behind him now. He would need to move quickly as the terrain was in their favor. If he failed to get away, his remains would join the many who had perished here.

[To Be Continued]